GENESEO, N.Y.—The
State University of New York at Geneseo will screen "Belly of the Basin," a
documentary about the lives of those affected by Hurricane Katrina. The
documentary, produced by Roxana Walker-Canton and Tina Morton, will be shown at
3:30 p.m. Nov. 8 in 202 Newton Hall. The running time of the documentary is 54
minutes, and the screening is free and open to the public. The two documentary
makers will be present to lead a discussion and take questions after the
screening.

"The documentary will show
the total disruption of normalcy that the breaking of the levees has created
for those who survived," says Walker-Canton. "We want to be clear that it was
not the natural occurrence of Hurricane Katrina that caused all of the
devastation, but that the actual flooding caused by the breaking of the levees
was what killed over 1,500 people and left thousands homeless and displaced.

"Hurricane Katrina exposed
many inequalities present in New Orleans and in many other cities. Viewers will
see the reality of losing all of one's possessions, having generations of
families dispersed, students having no schools to attend, depression,
unemployment, sadness, rage and nightmares. The documentary will explore
reasons for the hesitation in recovery after the flooding, including race,
class and gender. Ultimately the documentary will show that even after one
year, the poorest communities, many of which are African-American and Native
American, are still left untouched," says Walker-Canton.

The two documentary makers
had specific goals in mind when they approached SUNY Geneseo about showing
their work on campus. "Tina and I wanted to bring the documentary to Geneseo
for a number of reasons," says Walker-Canton. "First, we want to bring
awareness to the crisis still taking place in New Orleans throughout the United
States and abroad. Second, we target colleges and universities because it has
been college-age students who have contributed many volunteer hours in helping
to rebuild New Orleans. We want to further encourage volunteerism in our young
adults and a sense of giving back to our communities."

Walker-Canton and Morton
wanted to bring personalized attention to those affected by the hurricane's
aftermath. "We chose to produce this documentary because we were unsatisfied
with the depictions of African-American and poor New Orleans natives that were
produced by the media following the disaster," says Walker-Canton. "In many ways,
African-American survival was criminalized with news stories focused on looting
and unfounded accusations of killing and rapes.

"Many times it was difficult
to find the voices of those who had suffered the disaster. We wanted residents
of New Orleans to be able to tell their stories without journalistic confines,"
says Walker-Canton.

Filming the documentary
required a large amount of legwork for Walker-Canton and Morton. "We made a
total of four trips to New Orleans, spending anywhere from three days to a week
in the city. We also interviewed survivors who had been displaced to other
cities like Baton Rouge, La., where the population tripled after the influx of
residents who were bussed to the trailer communities about the flood," says
Walker-Canton.

The documentary is intended
to do more than bring attention to the New Orleans tragedy. "We want to
encourage students to not only volunteer time to work in New Orleans, but to
consider the political, social, economic, cultural and spiritual implications of
the way in which this disaster has been handled."

This event is sponsored by
African studies and the Office of the Provost.

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Written by Joe Mignano,
public relations intern in the Office of Communications and Publications.